Several jelly products recently placed in the market lack in coolness. Carbonated jelly products are expected to give a cool and refreshing taste.
Known processes for carbonation of jelly include the process disclosed in JP-A-50-69247 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") which comprises putting a gelling food composition in a pressure-resistant container, setting the composition, adding carbon dioxide gas to the container, and shaking the content to homogenize while maintaining at a temperature above the point where the gel becomes sol, followed by cooling. However, this process is not deemed suitable for industrial production because of such complicated steps involved, i.e., heating of a gelling agent to dissolve, cooling for setting and, after addition of carbon dioxide gas, re-heating for solution, shaking, and re-cooling for setting.
JP-A-59-45837 proposes a process comprising mixing a gelatin solution and a carbon dioxide-containing aqueous solution at a low temperature and setting the mixture in a sealed container. However, the process has such disadvantages that carbon dioxide is easily dissipated during mixing, the process is difficult to carry out on an industrial scale, and the resulting gelatin jelly is inferior in texture to the jelly of .kappa.-carrageenan, .iota.-carrageenan or a mixture thereof.